Type 022 Missile Boat
- Thread starter DPRKPTboat
- Start date
IMO, the Type 022 should have good seakeeping as a catamaran:
They could even fix 2 more outriggers on either side to increase it & make it a 3-4maran; then it could go wherever a CBG goes.
They could even fix 2 more outriggers on either side to increase it & make it a 3-4maran; then it could go wherever a CBG goes.
1. Persistence, in general, is determined by (1)autonomy and (2)seaworthiness (incl. maximum sea state when weapon usage is permitted).
022 is a really small boat in the end, with a small crew, little internal volume(hull form doesn't help), and a lot of single-purpose armament weight for its class.
2. Sensor suite of 022 is fairly basic, point in using it for patrol duties far from bases is honestly lost to me. There isn't much they can detect that maritime militia can't.
3. Light, high-performance diesel engines (almost mandatory for such applications) often have relatively low service life. Simple training for such usage will gradually wear down the ships. Aluminum hull is a major suspect here, too.
4. Continued presence exposes vessels to the possibility of attack (and substantially complicates their defense by third assets). 022s on their own are vulnerable to literally anything. And if you deploy other persistent assets to cover them - point in insisting on having 022s at sea is honestly lost.
5. They can indeed be operated from SCS island base, another type of a forward base, or simply from a tender(preferably in some sort of calm water). This is still the same thing, however - they are not on their own, and can return at will. But their capability in hostile littoral appears to be very secondary to me.
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All in all - they're better left to what they were originally designed to do.
There is absolutely no evidence or any indication that the PLAN intends to operate their Type 22s in that way like you describe -- operating around the world, or even in the second island chain, with a dedicated ship carrier and a suitable supply ship?
Frankly it sounds like you're describing some kind of "FAC carrier" -- something which doesn't exist and would be a waste of a supply ship to support.
The Type 22s serve a useful role in wartime as a littoral, FAC able to carry eight decent weight AShMs, that is able to operate in an environment where the PLA has a modicum of air superiority and sea control, and if sufficiently networked it can contribute to anti-surface missions if called upon to by offboard sensors or if called upon by larger task forces.
However, Type 22s lack the sea keeping to operate at extended distances beyond green water ranges, and the eight YJ-83s they carry per ship is not worth developing a whole new concept of operations and allocating a supply ship or carrier ship just to ferry four of them around to the second island chain or beyond.
So as far as considering Chinese naval capabilities in anything outside of the first island chain, yes the Type 22s should very rightly be discounted and are not worth considering in any significant manner.
Lack of SATCOMs make the 022 a problem for getting satellite linked OTH target data. This is a big difference from the 056 series that has one. In order get such information, they would have to operate within the vicinity of a Type 056 or a frigate that can act as a hub for the satellite network. Once the frigate gets the targeting information, it will have to relay the information to the 022s via direct ship to ship datalink.
antiterror13
Brigadier
PiSigma
"the engineer"
Expensive. Mostly the ship is designed for one, so major modifications would be needed.